by TJ Klune
“My God,” Hank whispered. “How is it possible?”
“I don’t know,” Cavalo said. “But it is. And you know who will have the rest.”
“Lucas doesn’t know for sure?”
“So he says.” Cavalo wasn’t sure if he could believe the Dead Rabbit.
“But… how… where can we…?”
“Dworshak,” Cavalo said. “Does it still stand?”
“The dam?” Alma asked. “What does that have to….”
“It should,” Hank said. Cavalo could see the fire blooming in his eyes. He wondered if, after all was said and done, they could ever go back to the way things had been. If they would even have the chance. “Haven’t been there in a few years since no one knew how to do anything with it. Fifty miles is a long way to travel this close to the Deadlands. Unless the Dead Rabbits have taken it over, but I don’t think they have gotten that far north yet.” He stopped. Shook his head. “That’s what they’ve been looking for, isn’t it? That’s why they’ve been moving. To find a working dam. He never asked about it, so we never had reason to tell him.”
“I don’t understand,” Alma said weakly, though Cavalo could see the knowing glimmer flashing in her eyes.
Cavalo took a breath and let it out slowly. “Lucas is… a map. Or at least half of one. There are schematics tattooed into his skin. Equations and lines. For machines. Water purification. Hydroelectricity. Power. He is what the UFSA was looking for. Why they want Patrick. The Forefathers, whoever they are. They didn’t know Patrick had divided it up. They thought he was nothing more than a pet. A psycho fucking bulldog. A means to an end. But he’s more than that. They didn’t know what they had. They never stopped to look. Lucas is the key, and I guarantee you Patrick is the lock. Whoever opens that door… will have the power to control everything. You have made a deal with the devil, and in nineteen days, he is coming to your doorstep to collect.”
of bees and men
THEY LEFT him chained to the wall, Bad Dog fretting at his feet.
He pulled on the chains. They clanged against the hooks on the wall. There was no give in them. He wondered how many of those the town had fed to the Dead Rabbits had been kept in here, arms bound to the walls.
His throat hurt. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d spoken so much. They promised him water but never came back. He expected as much. It was okay. He’d survived worse. He knew there was a guard out in the front office but did not call out to him. It would not have done any good. Besides, he was sick of people. He’d seen too much of them lately. Of this town with all its secrets. He wanted to be alone while he had time left to do so. Once the sun rose, he’d either be killed by the town or fed to the Dead Rabbits. Of that he was certain.
As the sky grew darker, the snow stopped and the clouds parted here and there, leaving patches of stars and sky he could see through the small window behind him. He even saw the moon, the sliver that it was, when he craned his neck uncomfortably. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen the moon. Men had gone there once, he knew. In their ships that spat fire. Much like the space in which the moon drifted, it was something Cavalo couldn’t quite fathom. He wondered what the moon looked like up close. And how quiet the space around it would be. All dust and stars.
Bad Dog curled around his feet protectively, huffing quietly in his sleep as his legs jerked. Cavalo wondered what he chased in his dreams. He wished he could follow his friend there. It would be better than staying trapped here in the real world where people he would have trusted, people he thought far better than himself, had shown they were exactly the same as he. It should have provided him comfort to know that others made hard decisions like he did. Those decisions that no one else would choose to make. But it was Alma. And Hank. And Warren. They weren’t supposed to be like him. They were supposed to be different.
And why are you letting it affect you so? the bees whispered from their hive. They are nothing to you. They are no one. You are alone as you’ve always been. As you will always be. That’s what you’ve wanted. And that’s what you’ll get. They are already dead. Why did you even come here? What did you hope to achieve?
He closed his eyes against the bees. He could feel them pricking about in his head. He couldn’t tell them (or even himself) about that strange, soaring hope that burst through him when SIRS had started to explain the marks on Lucas’s skin. He couldn’t tell them of words foreign to him like hope and future that danced across his mind. Even as the blood had dripped down the Dead Rabbit’s neck where he’d almost cut his throat, Cavalo had been filled with a terrible wonder. And even with the scrape of the knife, he’d bent his head and scraped a kiss against the Dead Rabbit’s lips. He didn’t know why he did it. Maybe he meant it as a good-bye. Maybe he meant it to say he was sorry for what he was about to do.
Or maybe he was fucking tired and fucking lonely and maybe he couldn’t get the fucking psycho out of his head. He was always there, mixed in with the bees. Cavalo hated him. He hated everything about him. And even as hope and future had risen in his mind, so did change and destruction, and wasn’t there a moment where he’d almost grabbed the knife and finished what he’d started? Wasn’t there a moment when he thought that it’d be easier if Lucas was dead, his head separated from his body, Cavalo’s hands drenched in his blood?
There was such a moment, and it was a battle that Cavalo had almost lost.
Why he stopped himself was a curious thing. Cavalo thought it had to do with the Dead Rabbit always being in his head. Cavalo wished, not for the first time, that he’d killed Lucas the day they’d met. All of this could have been avoided. He might have gone the rest of his life never knowing what Hank was capable of. Alma. Warren. The town. This place.
He wondered what the morning would bring.
“If you can get away, you run,” he told Bad Dog.
Bad Dog opened his eyes and looked up at him. They bad guys now?
“I don’t know.”
We bad guys?
“I don’t know.”
Can’t leave you, Bad Dog said.
“You have to.”
Can’t.
“Why?”
Home. You’re my home.
“Stupid dog.” There was no heat to the words.
Stupid MasterBossLord. Stupid man who thinks Bad Dog will leave him. I will never leave you. Where you go, I go. And if they come, they will see my teeth and run because I am Bad Dog.
“The most ferocious,” Cavalo said quietly.
Bad Dog closed his eyes and slipped back into his dreams, curling closely to Cavalo to stay warm.
Cavalo watched him sleep.
Hours passed. The cold air through the window prevented Cavalo from sleeping. It seeped through his deerskin coat and chilled his flesh. He thought of many things, none of them good. The ruination of flesh. Blood splashing against snow. The gnashing of teeth. A little boy, hands outstretched, with a live grenade in his lap. A lady with turquoise hair. A lady who danced amongst the trees. Of Charlie, who lost something. Of a woman with an infected cut on her foot opening a door to snarling animals. Of robotics. Of machines that purified. Of machines that destroyed.
And of Lucas. I am Lucas, always there in his head. Lucas, who had the audacity to kiss him in the lookout and ruin everything he knew about himself to be true. Lucas, who had the gall to watch him as he did, like a predator hunting prey. Lucas, who had the temerity to exist at all, to bring Cavalo’s ordered little world crashing down as if it were constructed of nothing but ash and smoke.
Lucas, Lucas, Lucas.
Cavalo’s skin hummed at the thought of him. He wished Hank had not taken his knife so he could have attempted to cut Lucas out of himself. It was the only thing that made sense. Lucas was a sliver underneath the skin that had become infected. Cavalo needed to cut him out.
And on and on it went. Those circles in his mind. Round and round. The bees screamed. Cavalo gritted his teeth. It would never stop. It would never—
Bad Dog raised his head. Sniffed the air. Cocked his head.
“What?” Cavalo asked.
The dog’s tail thumped once. Twice. They’re here. He sounded surprised. He stood. Shook himself. Glanced over at Cavalo.
“Who?” Cavalo asked.
Smells Different.
“For fuck’s sake,” Cavalo muttered. “Has he killed anyone?”
No. No blood. He won’t let Smells Different kill. We don’t know if they’re bad guys yet.
“Who?” Cavalo asked again.
Tin Man. Tin Man’s here too.
“SIRS? SIRS is here?”
Yes. Yes. Bag of bolts came down off the mountain. Has he ever left before?
Not in all the years Cavalo had known him. Not once. “This can’t possibly be good,” Cavalo said.
All together again! Bad Dog said with a low bark, spinning in a circle. Like at home! He stopped, and his tail drooped. Except we’re still in jail.
Cavalo stood. “I doubt it will be for much longer.”
Really? Bad Dog asked, looking up at him.
Cavalo shrugged. “Either that or we’re going to die a whole lot quicker.”
I pick the first one. I don’t like being dead.
“You’ve never been dead before.”
Yes, but I know I wouldn’t like it.
Cavalo turned toward the window. The chains pulled at his arms. He prayed Bad Dog was wrong, though Cavalo knew in his heart he wasn’t. If they were here, it meant they’d come to rescue them. It meant they worried, SIRS more than Lucas. Especially for the robot to have left the prison. How Lucas had convinced the robot to leave, Cavalo didn’t know.
He waited. Nothing moved outside the cell. The moon peeked through the clouds again, and shadows shifted and changed.
Then:
Fingers curled around the bars. A face appeared, dark eyes cloaked in a black painted mask, a hood over his head. Lucas’s eyes narrowed as they peered between the bars, but then his gaze found Cavalo. The scowl turned into the shark’s grin. Found you, that smile said. I was hunting you and now I found you.
“Why are you here?” Cavalo asked.
Lucas glanced over his shoulder, then looked back at Cavalo. He tugged on the bars once. Twice. Because you’re in jail, he said.
“We knew this might happen.”
Lucas rolled his eyes. Because you’re a shit messenger.
“It’s a lot to take in,” Cavalo said. “They need time to think.”
We don’t have time, Lucas reminded him. He’s coming. He pulled on the bars again, jerking his arms. One of the bars spun slightly in its groove but nothing more.
“That’s not going to work.”
Lucas glared at him. You don’t say.
“Lucas!” a voice hissed from out in the snow. “You vile creature! I told you to wait for me! I could have gotten lost! I had to hide from a man with a very large gun. If he’d spotted me, our cover would have been blown! I am positive that—what on earth are you doing hanging from a window?” Glowing orange eyes appeared next to Lucas’s head. “Ah! Now it makes sense. You know, Cavalo, these humans made it very easy to sneak in to a supposedly fortified town, and I’ve never snuck into anything before in my life. And you think they’ll be able to fend off Patrick and a group of Dead Rabbits? I think our chances are infinitesimal. Let me break down these walls and we can go back home. There is a lesser chance of being eaten hiding behind the walls of the prison. And we have defenses that they do not have here.”
“Could you be any louder?” Cavalo asked. He glanced back at the door. Nothing moved.
The robot’s eyes flashed. “I am sure I could. Shall I?”
“You left the prison,” Cavalo said.
“At great risk to the remaining shreds of my sanity,” SIRS said. “Why, even now I can feel my processors shutting down. I undoubtedly am facing an imminent death. The things I do for you. Can we go home now? I find I don’t like the outside world very much. It’s too real.”
“I told you not to come.”
“Our psychotic little friend here seemed to think something would happen to you. Funny, that.”
“Did he?” Cavalo asked. “Maybe because he already knew what they did here.” He hadn’t thought of this. Not until now. He didn’t know if that made it better or worse that Lucas had thought he needed help.
They do many things, Lucas told him solemnly. Lucas pulled on the bars again. Can’t go this way, too loud. His eyes flickered over Cavalo to the door. His feral grin returned. We can go through the front.
“You can’t kill anyone,” Cavalo said. “Do you understand?”
The smile turned into a frown. Why not?
“These people don’t deserve it.” He wondered if he believed that. Surely they deserved something. Much like Cavalo himself did.
I thought they were maybe bad guys? Bad Dog asked. We kill bad guys with our teeth. Maybe bad guys too because it’s safer than sorrier.
“Not here,” Cavalo said. “No one dies.”
What’s the point? Lucas asked with a scowl.
I never get to kill anything anymore, Bad Dog said.
“What happened here?” SIRS asked.
“Not now. I need to get to Hank.”
“And then?”
“I’ll figure it out.”
“This isn’t going to end well.”
“Does it ever?” Cavalo asked. “One guard that I can tell. SIRS, do not let Lucas kill him.”
“What about maiming?” The robot sounded amused.
“No maiming.”
“I tried,” SIRS told Lucas.
I will maim if I feel like it, Lucas said. He reached in between the bars and gripped Cavalo’s face tightly. I could maim you right now. Spill your blood.
Cavalo waited.
Lucas released him and shook his head. He pursed his lips and buzzed. All those bees, he said. They want many things from me. He looked back up at Cavalo. I will get you out. He dropped down out of sight.
Cavalo sighed. “SIRS, make sure he—”
“I know, I know. No violent bloody murder. You know, maybe you should have just a little more faith in him.”
“He’s a cannibal.”
“Too right,” SIRS said. “But aren’t we all?” The robot turned from the window, his bright eyes disappearing into the dark.
We gonna be okay? Bad Dog asked him.
“Probably not.”
Gonna make it?
“Probably not.”
Gonna die?
“Probably.”
Bad Dog shook himself. Sniffed the floor. Bumped his head against Cavalo’s leg. We’re gonna make it, he said. Not gonna die. Not today. Have stuff to do.
“Do we?”
Yes. Chase birds. Eat grass. Throw up grass. Chew bones. Defeat bad guys and save the world.
“In that order?”
Yes. It is the best order.
“I don’t know what to do,” Cavalo admitted.
Find BigHank. Make him believe.
“Believe?”
Believe that Smells Different is who you think he is. That he can save them. And you.
Cavalo looked away. “I’m already too far gone.”
Maybe, Bad Dog said. Probably. But maybe not. He is one of us. Like Tin Man.
“Why?”
Don’t know. Just is.
Cavalo said nothing.
A crash from outside the door. A hoarse cry. The sound of a heavy blow. The thump of a body falling to the floor.
Cavalo and Bad Dog waited.
Shadows stretched under the door. For a moment Cavalo thought it was blood.
The door opened, and Lucas stood before them. He stepped lightly, his eyes embedded in the painted-on mask never leaving Cavalo. Stalking him. Hunting him. Gooseflesh prickled the back of Cavalo’s neck. He took a step toward Lucas, the chains pulling against his arms.
Lucas pressed his face between the metal bars of the jail cell. It was a cage of man or God, Cavalo knew, and
how quickly things had changed! Just how quickly these roles had become reversed! Clever monster, Cavalo thought as Lucas grinned at him through the bars. Clever cannibal.
You need me, that smile said.
You want me, those eyes said.
Found you, Lucas said. Found you. Found you.
Cavalo darted forward, the chains jerking his arms back. He swore he heard something pop in his right shoulder. He bared his own teeth at Lucas. This boy was nothing. He knew nothing. He was a means to an end and nothing more. It was time he learned his place.
The Dead Rabbit didn’t flinch. If anything, his grin widened.
“Are you both quite done?” SIRS asked, ducking into the room. “It’s disconcerting to think that potentially the fate of our known world rests in the hands of two people who can’t stop growling at each other like animals. Why, if I didn’t know any better, I might think there was some kind of unresolved tension between the two of you that needed to be explored—”
“Open the door,” Cavalo barked.
“Bossy human,” SIRS said. “You’re lucky the world ended when it did, before robots had time to rise up and enslave the human populace. Apparently, that was quite a popular notion in the Before times.” He came up behind Lucas. “Since you’re new, you’re at the bottom of the food chain, even if you eat those at the top of the food chain. I get to boss you around. Move, tiny man.” SIRS pushed Lucas out of the way. Lucas lashed out against him, hand whipping against the robot’s chest. There was a loud clang. The robot was unfazed. Lucas ground his teeth together as he held his wounded hand to his chest.
Stupid metal robot, he grumbled. I will destroy you.
“I can’t understand you like Cavalo can,” SIRS said as he inspected the lock. “But I am sure you are saying nothing but nice things about me.”
I will see you cleaved in half! he snarled.